


Bone of Contention

by delle



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 14:12:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7644028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delle/pseuds/delle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“To obtain – “, she paused, then acknowledged his point grudgingly. “To obtain nuclear bombs.”</i>
  <br/>
  <i>“Where is your warrant?”</i>
</p><p> </p><p>Peggy and Daniel disagree.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bone of Contention

Peggy stormed into Daniel’s office, to find Joseph Manfredi sitting comfortably across the desk from Daniel.

“-and you’ll take her there?” Daniel was saying, glancing over at Peggy to acknowledge her entrance.

“Yeah, of course. Not gonna let her go by herself, ya know?”

“Even if she doesn’t know where she is going?”

Manfredi frowned. “Especially if she doesn’t know where she is going.” The two men exchanged a knowing look.

“Where _is_ she going?” Peggy demanded.

“Rockhaven”, Daniel replied. 

“A sanitarium?” Furious, Peggy put her hands on her hips and prepared to lambast them both. Daniel stilled her with a look and a raised finger. He pushed himself up from his chair and extended a hand to Manfredi.

“Mr. Manfredi, I won’t lie and tell you it’s been a pleasure. And I won’t lie and tell you we’re now friends and I’ll turn a blind eye to your activities going forward. But I can see how much Miss Frost means to you and I am sorry how this all turned out for you.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, Sousa.” Manfredi shook Daniel’s hand. “I appreciate an honest guy, even if he is a G-man. And she’ll come back and remember me. I know it.”

He turned to leave and gave Peggy a long look-over, then turned back to Daniel. “You’re gonna take this one on, Sousa? You got bigger balls than I gave you credit for.” He sketched a salute to Peggy and left the office, closing the door behind him.

“You’re letting him take Whitney Frost,” Peggy spat, “and keep her safe away from any consequences? I expected that from Vernon, but not from you, Daniel.”

Her barb hit its mark; Daniel sat back down, but his color was high and his eyes shot sparks.

“Yes,” he said evenly, “and I hardly think that being committed to a mental institution is going to be easy or a vacation.”

“She should be prosecuted, Daniel!”

“For what?” Now he leaned back in his chair, hands folded.

“For attempting to destroy Los Angeles, if not the entire world.”

“And where is your evidence, Agent Carter?”

“Don’t play games with me.”

“I’m not. Prove your case.”

Peggy paused for a moment, considered. “All right, so today’s events can’t be proven. What about attempted murder of a federal agent?”

“And where did this happen?”

“Roxxon.” Her tone said ‘don’t play stupid with me’.

“Why were you at Roxxon, Agent Carter?”

“To obtain – “, she paused, then acknowledged his point grudgingly. “To obtain nuclear bombs.”

“Where is your warrant?”

“Daniel-“

“Peggy, I am making a point. Prove your case.”

“What about allegedly detonating those atomic bombs?”

“To what purposes?”

“To open a rift and obtain Zero Matter.”

“Black space goop.”

She stared at him. “So?”

“So, can you demonstrate this so-called Zero Matter?”

“So-called -?” Her voice rose. She took a breath, forced herself to calm down. 

“And how did Whitney Frost – an Oscar nominated actress, I’ll remind you - obtain the nuclear material?”

“She blackmailed…” her voice faltered. “She blackmailed Dr. Jason Wilkes and Chief Daniel Sousa of the SSR. Alright, point ceded. What about the murders of Calvin Chadwick and several other members of the Arena Club?”

“How do you know this, Agent Carter?” Daniel’s intent gaze never left her face.

“I was informed by…. by a confidential informant.”

“Your informant’s name?”

Frustrated now, Peggy began to pace. “Dottie Underwood.”

“That would be Dottie Underwood, the notorious Leviathan agent?”

She turned and glared at him. “Yes.”

“And how did you obtain Miss Underwood’s assistance, Agent?”

She was silent.

“Isn’t it a fact, Agent Carter, that you broke Miss Underwood out from Federal custody – a known Soviet agent, a trained killer – and sent her into a social event to spy for you?”

“Fine. Point taken, Chief Sousa –“

“How did Calvin Chadwick die, Agent Carter?”

“She was able to manipulate the Zero Matter in her body to absorb-“

“Black space goop again.”

“I get your point, Daniel. But there has to be a way to make her pay!”

“Peggy!” His voice cracked like a whip as he pushed up from his chair. He leaned over the desk, hands fisted, eyes intent. “There is no way to explain this to someone that didn’t actually see it. And you are making these wild accusations against America’s Sweetheart, Whitney Frost!”

There was a long moment of silence as the two glared at each other. Finally Peggy collapsed into the chair opposite him. “You’ve thought this through.”

Daniel circled around, perched his left hip on the desk corner. “I had the entire car ride back from Stark Studios, sitting next to the crazy lady and hoping she didn’t decide to scratch my eyes out.” Daniel had sat in the back of the SSR car with Whitney Frost, after Whitney had attempted to attack both Peggy and Jack.

Peggy sat thoughtfully for several minutes. Daniel patiently waited her out. Too damn clever, she thought; he was several steps ahead of her.

“So, committing her is our only option?”

Daniel’s shoulders relaxed slightly. She hadn’t realized how tense he had been as they fought.

“It will keep her away from the general public. And you know she really is unwell, Peggy. Whatever the Zero Matter did to her mind, she is brilliant. Maybe the doctors can help her.”

Peggy stood and smoothed her skirt. “All right, Chief; reluctantly, I have to agree with you.”

Daniel nodded. “We good?”

She smiled at him. “We’re always good.”


End file.
